New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-09-21
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
NOVELS AND TALES.


H. CLARKE. Harpsr's Franklin Square Library.
sEAsPRAY; OR, FACTS AND FANCIEs or
2Ss Benjamin Bell
which, OR. BETWEEN TWO WOMEN. BY ErSksr
pag ssc rs.ssps EASn r..:.n
CALAMITY JANE. A Story Of tho BlscE HIS c: ~
MRS. GEORGE +. SPENCER. l2mo, PIP. l12. Sasssh
AGO.
"Weeping Ferry is q well-written story of that
old-fashioncd kind which depends largely Tor its
interest upon intricacy Of plot, and the exciting
nature of the action. 1t has merit beyond this
however. The character building is with few
exceptions honest and thorough: the people are
quite real, and they talk naturally and easily
The central idea is OF an astute lawyer who' ~
memory Of dead friend, undertakes 10 traoe
lost heiress to an important estate. her 'uenoy
has previously been discovered by the @han. u
the estate and his bailiff; and tne iornel n"S
tried to break the chain Of evidence in her 1aVor
NV DESTROYING the record Of the marriage or her
parents in the parish register. The girl hersel
has passed as the daughter Of the ferryman Oh
Weeping Ferry, and she goes through many ana
strange adventures before the truth as 10 her
social and financial position is made known "
Irer. The astute lawyer who collects all uie
evidence does his work under the pretence dia'
he is gathering material for a romance ana Ihao'
lacking imagination, he is compelled to put MS
dependenee mon facts. or course he rather
overdocs the detective business. This Is always
the case Also it must be confessed that In order
to account for some land the most Important vi
his finds, q phenomenal careessness or stupidity
on the part of his antagonists has to be postuateu
The general interest of the story, however, is
sufficient to make the reader PASS over these
blemishes and as it ends in the time-honored
N I'm
ing all the bad ones, it ought to satisfy the
general sentiment.
"More True than Truthful" relates the woful
experiences Of a charming young lady whose
friends give her the attractive and suggestive
name PUSSY" The weakness OF Miss Pussy is
infirmity of purpose With every inclination to
do right and the purest motives, she gets into
all manner of entanglements because she cannot
bring herself to tell the truth at the right moment
Brought up with a brother they being orphans)
in the family of an uncle in trade, Pussy Is
ashamed of her belongings. Engaged as COM
panion to an old schOolmate and thrown among
aristocratc people, she is weak enough to conceal
her relationship to her brother, who has obtained
the position of secretary to a neghborlng gentle
man The result is that being seen one night
meeting her brother she is suspected of being his
mistress, and her engagement with the man She
loves is broken off, Up to this point the story
is clevery and carefully written, but from the
fight of the heroine to the end the movement Is
unduly hurried the plot is no longer conducted
with the same thoroughness. and the loose ENDS
are brought together so crudely almost to
suggest suspicion that Mrs. Clarke became tired
of her work before it was finished. Nevertheless,
there is some very good writing in it, The
characters are we'll distinguished and consist
emily developed. There is absence of the
improbable and the sensational, and respectable
knowledge of life and Of human nature Is ex-
hibited 1t is better than the average third-rate
novel and nearly good enough for the second rank.
Sea Spray" is a collection Of papers which,
with two exceptions, have been previously pub
]ished in magazines. The first and the ninth
articles appear here newly. The first article As
decidedly odd one. 1t seems to have been
written a serious argument against the English
law which prohibits marriage with deceased
wifes sister. A man and woman are thrown
together by shipwreck upon a desert island. She
turns out to be. his deceased wifes sister. But
before this discovery is made they have mutually
fallen in love and they find little difficulty in
justifying their union in the circumstances. Pre-
cisely what 1t all signifies is not quite easy
to perceive If Mr.. Benjamin simply meant to
cOntcnu tnat When Two peopR are turoWu toeether
on desert island and left there for several years
they are likely to discard the old laws and social
usages in which they were trained. and to make
new laws for themselves in conformity with their
peculiar circumstances, it was scarcely worth
the trouble, since the position is self-evident.
But as legislation is not generally made with a
view to its operation desert islands, the appli
cation of the argument seems rather vague and
doubtful. The English law may be all wrong,
but surely it cannot be proved SO by this line
Of illustration. Mr.. Benjamin's book contains
some interesting papers on yachting, which all
who have read them will doubtless be glad to
have in this more permanent form.
There is great gulf fixed between Alphonse
Daudet and his brother Ernest. The first is a
man Of genius; the second is a man of talent
only. Ernest Daudets novel (Which" might have
been written by almost any ono Of the elder Du-
mass collabOratOrs. 1t is that kind Of story
which, though still undoubtedly POPULAR with an
immense number Of readers, possesses no claim to
distinction. 1t is, in fact, romance of the pseudo
historical order, the time being just before and
during the French Revolution. The Terror, of
course, affords practically inexhaustble situations
Of the most melodramatic character, and NJ Ernest
Daudet avail himself OF them, though he certain
~ docs not trouble himself about their orig nality
ne udCkueyeQ utNiCc VI u euuoutuGOu VI prs
oners on the list OF the condemned is resorted to
without conjunction. There is plenty of incident
and plenty OF 0ld-fashioned romance 1t is not
u badly written story, but it is commonplace and
antquated.
In Calamity Jane' Mrs. Spencer has tried
quito a new experiment. The tale is of the Black
Hills, and chiefly OF the fortunes of young New
York lawyer who marries himself into disinherit-
ance and with his bride seeks in the new mining
country the livelihood denied him at home.
Calamity Jane" is the nickname Of mysterious
young woman who plays the part OF highwayman
and gambler, and though slight of form and boyish
Of aspect even when in her masculine dress,
manages to hold tie whip hand over all the
roughs and desperadoes Of the region. There is
an exciting account OF q mining feud in which
dynamite comes into play, and remarkable
ladies' picnic at which Calamity Jane" appears